a report prepared by Impact Lab, a company co-founded and chaired by former National leader Sir Bill English.
“While Impact Lab is a reputable company, it’s even more important for the Minister to at least seek advice from officials and show that some attempt has been made to verify the figures, when that company is synonymous with a former National Party PM Bill English,” Leary said.
Oh and there is this connector to Ol' Double Dipper himself
“Even more so at a time when the Government has authorised payment of $500,000 that would have been used for transitional housing to pay for the controversial Kainga Ora review to: Bill English.
The left seem really triggered by money going to Gumboot Friday. Is it the charity itself? Or Mike King? Or perhaps, it's own failures:
On Tuesday, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission released its new report for 2022, finding there has been no change in access to specialist mental health services in five years, despite the Government's $1.9 billion cash injection in 2019.
Yesterdays story about English makes me so sad (getting funds from the emergency housing fund)when there's people really struggling out there, "cost of living" etc (which doesn't seem to be in the news anymore) & the likes of millionaires like English sponging off the Govt just seems so unfair, he doesn't need to do this, just unempathetic greed pure & simple (& those that troll & use slippery words to justify these policies are just cruel & nasty).
Also I was able to get the First Home Grant & was very thankful for it.
Maybe we could pay Bill English to report independently on the success of the parenting courses.
THE EMAIL EXCHANGE
MID-MARCH
Bill English’s office emails Treasury to inform it of decision to give $4.8m over four years to Peda.
TREASURY EMAILS THE MINISTRY OF PACIFIC ISLAND AFFAIRS
“We don’t know a great deal more about this initiative…presume someone in [Pacific Island Affairs] must know about it?”
MINISTRY REPLIES
“The information we have over here on this is very sketchy. Are you able to send us or point us in the direction of the Cabinet papers so we can proceed?”
TREASURY ANSWERS
“We are even more in the dark on this one – there are no Cabinet papers or anything else…Maybe worth asking your minister’s office.”
MARCH 25
Ministry advice on Peda says it is untested, unproven, does not work well with others and is proposing programmes that would overlap with existing ones.
In last year’s budget, the Nats awarded a $4.8m contract to an unknown organisation called PEDA without tender and against official advice. The people behind PEDA were apparently tied to Bill English via his wife. The full truth still hasn’t come out. Now, the Nats are up to the same trick with Parents Inc.
Paula Bennett’s Ministry of Social Development will pay $2.4 million to Parents Inc for “parenting courses for the caregivers of vulnerable children”. This contract was untendered and previously unknown.
Watch live: Ministers give more detail on new social housing plans
"The social housing waitlist is over 25,000 applicants and too many Kiwi families are living in emergency housing motels or sleeping on relatives' couches while they wait to move into warm, dry, stable housing," Potaka said.
For those who wondered how… and what the Nats were planning? They're building..stables?! Will there be enough money left for fresh hay every day ?…. ( fyi for those lacking in a satirical sense…it maybe is )
You do realise the weirdness of mocking a journalists typo when we have, by one measure at least, "one of the highest rates of homelessness in the developed world"?
"If you actually look at the reasons people can be evicted under the current regulatory scheme, I think it's very reasonable. You can evict somebody for not paying rent, or antisocial behaviour.
"I don't know if there are any more reasons that you should be allowed to evict somebody and I think National are actually saying we should trust landlords to act with impunity when it comes to people's livelihoods and their homes."
So you know its just a typo? uhuh. I realise most of you right wing trolls are humourless….why I put…. satirical !
Maybe you should address why Ol' Double Dipper English has any involvement or credo when he was quite involved in the selling off of same.
Sir Bill, whose Government sold off thousands of state houses and promoted the establishment of non-government community housing providers, said the state housing agency had racked up debt but little fiscal discipline or accountability.
"We'll go through a proper process; it may be that some have no value. If you're in a small town in a house that's been a P lab, it might be a wee bit hard to get rid of.
But have you thought about the irony in your criticism of Bill English, given the last government left "one of the highest rates of homelessness in the developed world"?
Given that plenty of us criticised the last government for being confusing and moving too slow (while still giving them credit for the good job they did in building some more housing and actually allowing people to get on the waitlist to better see the size of the unmet need problem) I don't see any irony at all.
Bill English was instrumental in kicking people off the housing waiting lists and National are making it harder to get on already.
They did the same thing last time with health as well.
You really don’t need to make it harder for us, Minister, with your new verification processes and eligibility checks. It’s not easy to get into emergency housing. Take my case: despite the fact that a social worker at my local MSD office agreed that the danger in my home was too high for me to remain, and paid for my kids and I to move, when it came to emergency housing, a different employee from MSD’s national team decided I did not meet the criteria. I spent three nights in a hospital where medics didn’t want to discharge me because there was nowhere for me to go, and then another night failing to sleep on a hard chair in the emergency department because the hospital was full and that was the best they could provide.
Laying more obligations on people seeking emergency housing and forcing our MSD managers to check on us more frequently won’t help the problem. If there’s one bright light in the system at the moment, it’s the pastoral care offered by the MSD integrated housing managers. I’ve had two, and both have made it clear that they really, really care. They’re already doing a lot; checking on my application with Kainga Ora and fielding calls from support agencies. At a time when the public sector is facing huge cuts, why double their workload by forcing them to check on me every four days?
Thanks DoS, I appreciate the reply and in your case I withdraw the comment about the irony. And I read Spinoff piece you linked to. Parking our political differences, it's unacceptable we have people living in transitional housing, and the "I was made to sing the “If you’re happy and you know it” song and heard the suggestion that homelessness is the result of financial irresponsibility and that a budgeting course would make us irresistible to the private sector." is downright disgusting.
Sounds like National dumping on its own support base, if I read this correctly.
FBT is a hangover from Rogernomics, it has more loopholes than an Instant Finance contract and costs a lot to administer compared to the amount of tax taken. Should have been retired long ago.
It affects me because the government takes a cut of the employer kiwisaver contribution.
I am interested in thoughts from those interested in philosophical debate.
One of the contentious topics in philosophy for a long time is whether we have free will, or whether our decisions are completely determined by external causal factors and internal causal factors. For instance, genetic factors etc we have inherited.
The deterministic argument essentially is that the sum of causal factors means our decisions are completely explained by those causal factors. Under that scenario, if we were able to travel back in time to before a decision is made, our decision would be exactly the same, based on those causal factors.
My argument is that there is room for independent human agency, apart from prior causes, depending on the ambiguity of the situation.
For example, a parent may have the option to either prevent their toddler from running out onto a busy road, or to stand back to see what will happen. In that situation, it is highly likely the parent would make the decision to prevent the child from crossing the road if faced with exactly the same circumstances again. The the deterministic argument would hold true in that situation.
But, where information is ambiguous, it is not so clear cut.
For example, say a person was driving down a road in Germany in the mid-1930s. The are contronted with an intersection where they must choose to go one way or the other. They both lead to the same destination, and there is no information as to which way is the best way to go. So, it is up to the person to decide which direction to take. In that situation, all the causal factors are the same. But, due to the lack of information, the causal factors have no influence on the decision to take. So, confronted with the same situation again, there is no reason to think that the same decision would be made.
They decide to go in one direction. In that direction, they have an accident and kill Hitler. Going the other way, they avoid the action altogether.
In this situation, it seems that the agency of the individual has started a causal chain of events depending on the decision made. That causal chain is independent of the preceding causal chain.
So, my argument is, the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely free will is involved. Where decisions are clear cut, then deterministic causal factors are more likely to explain the actions.
Incidental or scenario choice is one aspect – it is at the micro level of the decision-making.
So, my argument is, the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely free will is involved. Where decisions are clear cut, then deterministic causal factors are more likely to explain the actions.
Where people would make the same decision – again and again and others would decide the same, is not an important part of the free will debate because it is where instinctive behaviour conforms to deterministic causal factors decision-making.
I would look at free will in the context of cognitive psychology as per individual choice which does not conform to the expectation of evolutionary psychology as per group (herd) behaviour. Where individuals choose to be different is an act of free will. Such actions can influence the course of human society.
I tend to agree with you. The problem is that determinists would argue that individuals who choose to be different have causal factors that would explain that. For, instance, they may point to genetic factors where the individual's parents had similar tendencies. Or their parents brought them up to stand up for their own beliefs despite what the crowd may think.
My argument attempted to point out that the more ambiguous a situation becomes, the less effect previous causal factors will have.
At one end of the scale, decisions can be explained completely by causes. For instance, it has been shown that people react to pressing their brakes to avoid a crash before the thought arises in their mind.
But, in completely ambiguous situations, then the independent decision of the individual becomes much more of a factor.
So, I am proposing a continuum where at one end causal factors are a complete explanation, but at the other end independent individual agency is the complete explanation, and that the mix will change depending on the point along the continuum.
We learn to have instinctive reactions to situations (repetition – such as breaking without thinking) but also learn from considered experience, such as no right turn (or one term only).
I would see the upbringing of offspring to become educated and free thinking as a deliberation to impact on the wider society a capacity for progressive change (as nurture to ensure evolutionary possibility for the group over time).
I think it does end up coming down to whether we could have done otherwise. Or else there is always an argument that whatever we do was determined by a countless number of causes, many of which we may not be aware of.
The problem is that it is an experiment that is impossible to do because it would require travelling back in time to the exact situation that was faced back then. That is why the debate will always be at the academic level.
My thought experiment tried to show that it would be possible to do something different, given enough ambiguity in the situation.
Free will ignores the impact of genetics in terms of natural skill and ability, the impact on others and their decisions on your circumstances and luck.
None of us are where we are or where we could be by our choices alone. Being born into the right or wrong family or country, whether the wrong person got annoyed with you or the right person mentored you, whether we had an accident or a near miss, whether you were exposed to violence or poverty as a child – the cult of individualism as a means of success is just so non-sensical – it isn't funny that this gets promoted.
The caste system and the idea of next generation rebirth to a higher status reflects the reality that in some ways full exercise of (or equal) free will has an inter-generational aspect (is constrained by generational disadvantage).
That said providing opportunity (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and having estate taxation (and CGT on wealth privilege) are or can be the ways in which democracy works to allow greater opportunity for exercise of free will (equality) within "society".
Even then though you can't escape genetics – I've rarely heard anyone suggesting someone born with Down's syndrome just has to change their attitude to become successful – society is at times quite accepting of highly visible disability (post institutionalisation more so) having limits on level of achievement – often to their, the person's, detriment.
There's far worse genetic and illness derived heath disorders. And there are plenty that are invisible and not obvious – think dyslexia. So where on the spectrum of variation amongst human beings does it become that magic point of "but you just need to get your shit together, work harder, make more effort". to be successful. What if in fact for a lot of people it just simply cannot ever happen and it isn't them that need to adapt but instead it is society and the rules, and structures we have built that are problematic for them that are the things that need to change.
That includes adverse consequences on the child in the womb of adverse factors (non genetic – such as fetal alcohol etc) and early life trauma experiences (physical and mental), early poverty diseases, accident disability, sexual violence .. mental illness.
It is however important to distinguish between the concept of free will and the concept of a Randian/libertarian individual centred order to society – given equality of opportunity does not exist, It is of our free will to design a better one.
IMO, the whole debate is a bottomless swamp that's best avoided altogether and often a jumping-off point for dodgy political agendas.
I think there's something of a false binary at play. Pre-determination is usually viewed as material in nature and based on prior decisions by other people, our backgrounds and accumulated experience; while free will is seen as a non-material and essential characteristic of all human minds. The false binary is that these two are seen as completely different categories of things, and that therefore one must always be in the ascendant over the other. I would prefer to say that they are both material in nature and that we are all an admixture of both – that bad experience and bad backgrounds can partially extinguish the capacity for free will, while good experiences will enhance it. Both always exist together in tension.
In practice we all believe something like this. As a good leftie, few things infuriate me more than the right's fondness for the "just-world fallacy" – the idea that we all have free will and therefore the rich deserve to be rich and the poor deserve to be poor – which is nothing but a self-serving lie. On the other hand, if I did not believe in the presence of free will I would not be in favour of (say) rehabilitation programmes for criminals that rely on them wanting to change. Nobody in their day to day life is a fundamentalist of either stripe – we might call that "sanity".
Cashmore's paper elicited some debate at the time, and is still being cited:
The place of Free Will: the freedom of the prisoner [23 Oct 2023]
After reviewing the definition of Free Will and the related literature, we conclude that the scientific evidence does not disprove the existence of Free Will. However, our will encounters several constraints and limitations that should be considered when evaluating our deeds’ personal responsibility.
If the question is how much control an individual has over their thoughts and actions, then it's likely most people will tend to believe they are fully in control most if not all of the time, but who knows whether this is the case – certainly not me!
My simplistic assumption is that what we consider free will is largely the outcome of stochastic processes in the brain over which we have little-to-no control, these process (in response to stimuli) dictating thoughts and actions that are largely predictable (the degree of predictability varying over time, and between individuals), but not absolutely so.
For example, travelling at speed and faced with a possum in the headlights, an individual might react in the same way (say) 99 times out of a hundred, but possibly not 999 times out of a thousand. Another individual might react the same way 100 times out of 100, but possibly not one thousand time out of one thousand. A third individual might react in differently each time – difficult to imagine, but not impossible, although such an individual probably wouldn't last too long behind the wheel. It is challenging to conduct such thought experiments in practice, for all but the simplest living systems 'learn', and in humans it might be considered impossible to do a genuine reset after each cycle, and unethical even if it was possible.
Hmm, in hindsight, AB said it best – it’s a rabbit hole. Thanks for the question – that's the next hour's reading sorted
The question could be reframed as "Is the universe deterministic?" and quantum physics say probably not.
ChatGPT sez:
Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
Whether the universe is fundamentally deterministic or not depends on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are several interpretations, each with different implications for determinism:
Copenhagen Interpretation: This is the traditional interpretation, which embraces the inherent randomness of quantum mechanics. According to this view, the universe is not deterministic at the quantum level.
Many-Worlds Interpretation: This interpretation suggests that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements actually occur in separate, branching universes. In this view, the universe as a whole is deterministic, but it contains an infinite number of parallel outcomes.
Pilot-Wave Theory (Bohmian Mechanics): This interpretation posits that particles have well-defined positions and momenta, and their behavior is guided by a "pilot wave." This theory is deterministic but non-local, meaning that information can be instantaneously transmitted across distances.
Conclusion
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle shows that at the quantum level, we cannot have complete knowledge of all properties of a system simultaneously, leading to a fundamental indeterminacy in predictions. However, whether this indeterminacy implies that the universe is non-deterministic depends on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some interpretations suggest a non-deterministic universe, while others maintain determinism in a more complex or less intuitive form.
Every time someone comments I am in a quantum state of both agreeing and disagreeing and as a result the universe splits in two. According to the multiple worlds hypothesis,
It's good to see the support for structure literacy – IMHO that is our best chance to improve literacy in NZ after decades of decline.
Picking up on the final comments from Gail Gillon, I suspect the initial emphasis will be on changing the dynamic of literacy learning (to SL). Resources will be directly specifically to that. Reading recovery will become part of the overall picture, but in a form that integrates into the SL methodology. There will always be children for whom literacy is a challenge even with the very best practice.
And teaching reading using structured literacy, initially, in the classroom – will mean that fewer kids will need to be referred to programmes like Reading Recovery, at all.
At a time when climate change effects are all accelerating, we have predictions now for the collapse of the Thwaites glacier in Antartica in the next decade or two rather than next century.
Thwaites, which already contributes 4% to global sea level rise, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet. But because it also acts as a natural dam to the surrounding ice in West Antarctica, scientists have estimated its complete collapse could ultimately lead to around 10 feet of sea level rise — a catastrophe for the world’s coastal communities.
It is pertinent to look at what is happening to the global effort to bring climate change into the urgent agenda now required and look at what is behind the current efforts to demonise climate change protestors.
It turns out that most of what has been happening with criminalising protest is driven by the Atlas Network.
But before it was a network, it was just one think tank: the U.K.-based Institute of Economic Affairs, or IEA, founded by a man named Antony Fisher..
By this point, his work with the IEA and the Centre for Policy Studies had succeeded in getting Margaret Thatcher elected. Famed “free market” economist Milton Friedman would later say that “the U-turn in British policy executed by Margaret Thatcher owes more to Fisher than any other individual.”
Fisher wanted to connect all the IEA-style organizations he’d started into a network so that they could more easily work with each other, and asked Hayek for introductions to his “friends in Houston”—oil executives—for funding. The Atlas Network, which launched in 1981, initially only included the first dozen or so think tanks Fisher had helped to found himself, but quickly expanded to include hundreds of like-minded member organizations, including all the Koch-affiliated think tanks in the U.S. (The Cato Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the American Legislative Exchange Council—some of the most influential forces shaping U.S. conservative politics—are all members.) …
U.K.-based Atlas member think tank Policy Exchange, meanwhile, put out a report in 2019 describing Extinction Rebellion, an organization famous for shutting down parts of London to call for aggressive climate action, as “an extremist organization seeking the breakdown of liberal democracy and the rule of law.” As happened in Germany, several U.K. politicians and conservative media outlets have since repeated that framing. It wasn’t long before people began cold-cocking Extinction Rebellion activists as they blocked roads or staged other forms of nonviolent, disruptive protest…
…during a speech at Policy Exchange’s annual summer garden party in 2023, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanked Policy Exchange members for “helping us draft legislation” that significantly criminalized various forms of protest, increased police power, and created the criminal offense of “willful obstruction of the highway” to curb protests that block roads.
It began in the UK but now has it's tentacles right through the world, as we now know in NZ. It is the propaganda and influencer at arms length from the fossil fuel and mega rich corporations which fund it and as we know here, has bought and paid for national traitors, prepared to sell their citizens down the drain in exchange for power and money.
Well done Willie Jackson on jointly winning the Oxford Union debate. Sounds like a well constructed speech, clever, and with a touch of humour. Wonder how much we will hear about it in the news.
Not such a far-fetched idea, that. As I've already remarked, Hipkins just isn't right in the role of LOTO. Labour needs an Antony, not yet another Brutus.
Yes, good coverage on last night's One News. But oh dearie me, did he really have to recycle that tired old "smell on your breath" trope? Time that was permanently put to rest.
"Devastating"? Our CoC MPs are simply putting 'self' before 'service'.
Those simple-minded meddling experts – there’s still meat on public asset bones
Earlier this week, Bishop said the Government had “significant” concerns about the financial performance and governance of the Government housing agency. Kāinga Ora, the country’s biggest landlord, had assets of $45 billion and over $2.5bn of expenditure each year, owning more than 70,000 homes.
…
Among recommendations [in the independent review of Kāinga Ora by former Prime Minister Bill English] was addressing barriers “in order to increase provision of social housing by CHPs (community housing providers), iwi and Maori, and other providers”, leading to concerns of privatisation by stealth.
… reducing barriers (funding) to community housing providers (some Maori), iwi (all Maori) and Maori (let's guess urban authority).
(to Maori is OK when away fro government delivery).
Then
1.cancelling the role of Kainga Ora in buying places or leasing on the market to let out at income related rent.
2.not funding new Kainga Ora developments and with natural decline from demolishing old housing and then selling land not then being built on by tender to "developers in a flat market".
make it look like a great improvement in KO performance.
Problem less housing, less land for affordable new housing by future governments and a decline in assets held by KO.
The new social housing elsewhere not making up for the decline at KO (including loss of land assets).
It's just a transfer from KO and with no total increase in social housing intended.
Currently, social housing is procured from CHPs on a project-by-project basis. Around 500 new homes of the 1500 will be allocated quickly using the existing pipeline of CHP opportunities and with three objectives in mind: value for money from government investment, contributing towards the government’s target of getting people out of emergency housing motels, and a balanced approach between achievability and building capability in historically underserved regions.”
Once again the $!40M allocated is under $100,000 for each "home".
The Tories promised to get rid of no fault evictions in 2019 and finally brought legislation into parliament in 2023, but it will not pass before the election.
Here the coalition has brought in no fault evictions. Indicating a more pro landlord regime than the Tories of the UK.
"RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says the Government is committed to
unlocking development and investment while ensuring the environment is protected."
[Excerpt from media release by Minister Responsible for RMA Reform and two other ministers, 24 May 2024]
So we can have our cake and eat it too? I don't buy that. At most, the government will only make it look as if the environment is being protected.
Mining on stewardship land is just the start. The government is trotting out the usual "jobs or the environment" argument.
Note too the use of the word "unlocking". It implies those nasty greenies have prevented bold entrepreneurs in the business sector from making this country great.
A teenager is stabbed to death in Dunedin 30 metres from a police station.
The police say they have known about trouble in the area for some time but their options to fix it were security men and CTV cameras.
They couldn't even manage a police officer to walk the beat in the area for about an hour 3-4 pm on school days even though he/she would within spitting distance of the station.
Doesn't say much about National's promise to crack down on crime does it?
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Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott French, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UNSW Sydney US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have stated an exemption for Australia from Trump’s executive order placing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imported into the US is “under consideration”. ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon's attempts to turn the tables back on the Opposition at Question Time today went down like a lead balloon, Jo Moir writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenton Griffin, Casual Lecturer and Tutor in History, Indigenous Studies, and Politics, Flinders University American Primeval/Netflix On January 24, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church, penned a statement condemning the ...
It comes as Whangārei District Council is under fire from the Director General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati after it voted in December against adding fluoridation to the water. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Strangio, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Monash University Is history repeating itself in Labor’s fortress state of Victoria? At the 1990 federal election, Bob Hawke’s Labor government had a near-death experience when it lost nine seats in Victoria. A furious Hawke laid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nissen, HERA Program Director – Health Workforce Optimisation Centre for the Business & Economics of Health, The University of Queensland Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock If you’ve tried to get an appointment to see a GP or specialist recently, you will likely have felt ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peta Ashworth, Professor and Director, Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, Curtin University Large power grids are among the most complicated machines humans have ever devised. Different generators produce power at various times and at various costs. A generator might fail and another ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Orr, Veterinarian, Southern Cross University Mitchell Orr/Unsplash Late last year, rumours swirled online that HomeSafeID, a private Australian pet microchip registry, had stopped operating. On Feburary 5 2025, a notice appeared on the HomeSafeID website, ostensibly from the site’s ...
The government is taking far too long to allocate the 1500 social homes it announced nine months ago and the hold up is stalling desperately-needed homes, says a community housing provider. ...
The media is rife with headlines about people killing animals for kicks. Please don’t.In memory of an Auckland swan, a Bay of Plenty octopus and a Taranaki striped marlin.Imagine this. It’s 7.15am. You’re paddling around on a serene lake with your sweetheart. It seems likely that she’ll give ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump has agreed to “consider” exempting Australia from the 25% tariff he has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium to the US. Trump gave the undertaking during a wide-ranging 40-minute ...
Pacific Media Watch Israeli police have confiscated hundreds of books with Palestinian titles or flags without understanding their contents in a draconian raid on a Palestinian educational bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem, say eyewitnesses. More details have emerged on the Israeli police raid on a popular bookstore in occupied East ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist China and the Cook Islands’ relationship “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga express a loss of confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown. In response to questions from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Donald Trump is moving rapidly to change the contours of contemporary international affairs, with the old US-dominated world order breaking down into a multipolar one with many centres of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronnie Das, Associate Professor in Data Analytics, The University of Western Australia In the recent Border-Gavaskar series against India, Steve Smith agonisingly missed out reaching 10,000 Test runs in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, falling short by ...
In a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff, comedians and best friends Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester embark on a cross-country quest to find love. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent and ...
🚐 Bryn and Ku pack their bags and swap the bleak dating scene of Tāmaki Makaurau for some meet and mingle events in Ōtautahi that will take them out of their comfort zone. ❣️ Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out ...
"The relationship between China and the Cook Islands does not target any third party," the Chinese Foreign Ministry says, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga plan protest. ...
From tradwives to ‘petite blonde’ preferences, this season feels like a throwback for all the wrong reasons, writes Alex Casey. First of all: I know. Complaining about bad stuff on Married at First Sight Australia is like complaining that water is wet. But I’ve been bobbing around in these waters ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a public servant who’s ‘trying to get better’ explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 24. Ethnicity: Pākehā and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zena Assaad, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering, Australian National University Ziv Lavi/Shutterstock Last week, Google quietly abandoned a long-standing commitment to not use artificial intelligence (AI) technology in weapons or surveillance. In an update to its AI principles, which were first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenainn Simpson, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Florian Nimsdorf / Shutterstock About 400 kilometres northwest of Sydney, just south of Dubbo, lies a large and interesting body of rock formed around 215 million years ago by erupting volcanoes. Known as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mareike Riedel, Senior lecturer in law, Macquarie University The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents has dominated headlines in Australia in recent months, with calls for urgent action to address what many are calling a crisis. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney For a long time, it seemed refugee law had little relevance to people fleeing the impacts of climate change and disasters. Nearly 30 years ago, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Kirkman, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock You’ve heard of the gender pay gap. What about the gap in medical care? Cardiovascular diseases – which can lead to heart ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Iain White, Professor of Environmental Planning, University of Waikato Getty Images Urban planning has a long history of promoting visionary ideas that advocate for particular futures. The most recent is the concept of the 15-minute city, which has gained traction globally. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne Earth is crossing the threshold of 1.5°C of global warming, according to two major global studies which together suggest the planet’s climate has ...
As support for the coalition dips, the PM and his soon-to-be-deputy have engaged in a public war of words. Stewart Sowman-Lund has the details in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Support slips If there was ever a political honeymoon, or ...
Failure by successive governments has left the South Island’s freshwater in a near disastrous state, the High Court has been told, in a case that could force the Crown to jointly manage water bodies with Ngāi Tahu.Individual Ngāi Tahu leaders, and the collective group Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, are ...
Nearing the end of his career, the world’s greatest unicycle racer chases the sport’s most elusive record. There’s something different about world-class athletes. Even if you know nothing about their sport, you can see it. It’s the way they move – precise, powerful. It’s how they carry themselves – focused, ...
Migrants with money are the focus of new visa settings that the government hopes will boost the economy. Alice Neville explains.What’s all this then? On Sunday, as part of the government’s big plan to kickstart economic growth, changes were announced to the Active Investor Plus visa category, with the ...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350288339/govt-accepts-charity-commissioned-report-its-own-worth-face-value-prime-minister
More blurred lines from double dipton.
Nothing to see here….except
Oh and there is this connector to Ol' Double Dipper himself
scumbags.
The left seem really triggered by money going to Gumboot Friday. Is it the charity itself? Or Mike King? Or perhaps, it's own failures:
On Tuesday, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission released its new report for 2022, finding there has been no change in access to specialist mental health services in five years, despite the Government's $1.9 billion cash injection in 2019.
Health Minister Andrew Little defends Government's billion-dollar mental health boost, despite report finding little has changed | Newshub
Maybe they should have given GF more than the $600k in 2022.
Well….you seem pretty triggered yourself there…what triggered you?
Mention of Ol' Double Dipper..double dipping…again?
Cmon, we all know.
Yesterdays story about English makes me so sad (getting funds from the emergency housing fund)when there's people really struggling out there, "cost of living" etc (which doesn't seem to be in the news anymore) & the likes of millionaires like English sponging off the Govt just seems so unfair, he doesn't need to do this, just unempathetic greed pure & simple (& those that troll & use slippery words to justify these policies are just cruel & nasty).
Also I was able to get the First Home Grant & was very thankful for it.
You cant take the Double Dipper out of Blinglish. Its in his DNA…
His DNA made him do it, again, and again, and again; he’s got no free will.
Sad..but true. All those years of Catholic Morality ?,,,counted for sweet FA.
And I am glad for Standardista I Feel Love to have got their chance at a Home.
NZ is going in a very bad direction. I hope we can turn around.
Just business as usual. Nothing to see here.
Maybe we could pay Bill English to report independently on the success of the parenting courses.
THE EMAIL EXCHANGE
MID-MARCH
Bill English’s office emails Treasury to inform it of decision to give $4.8m over four years to Peda.
TREASURY EMAILS THE MINISTRY OF PACIFIC ISLAND AFFAIRS
“We don’t know a great deal more about this initiative…presume someone in [Pacific Island Affairs] must know about it?”
MINISTRY REPLIES
“The information we have over here on this is very sketchy. Are you able to send us or point us in the direction of the Cabinet papers so we can proceed?”
TREASURY ANSWERS
“We are even more in the dark on this one – there are no Cabinet papers or anything else…Maybe worth asking your minister’s office.”
MARCH 25
Ministry advice on Peda says it is untested, unproven, does not work well with others and is proposing programmes that would overlap with existing ones.
https://thestandard.org.nz/inquiry-needed-into-english-peda-scandal/
In last year’s budget, the Nats awarded a $4.8m contract to an unknown organisation called PEDA without tender and against official advice. The people behind PEDA were apparently tied to Bill English via his wife. The full truth still hasn’t come out. Now, the Nats are up to the same trick with Parents Inc.
Paula Bennett’s Ministry of Social Development will pay $2.4 million to Parents Inc for “parenting courses for the caregivers of vulnerable children”. This contract was untendered and previously unknown.
https://thestandard.org.nz/parents-inc-its-peda-redux/
For those who wondered how… and what the Nats were planning? They're building..stables?! Will there be enough money left for fresh hay every day ?…. ( fyi for those lacking in a satirical sense…it maybe is )
You do realise the weirdness of mocking a journalists typo when we have, by one measure at least, "one of the highest rates of homelessness in the developed world"?
NZ among world’s worst developed countries for homelessness as Chris Bishop says action on Bill English report ‘very soon’ (msn.com)
Was it a typo though? Presumably the quote is accurate, and "stable" refers to having access to warm, dry housing for a decent period.
Good point!
Yeah…Good point ! Not so good for the Tenants though..
NAct scumbags.
“told RNZ's Midday Report current regulations were there to stop bad landlords behaving badly.”
The new regulations make it possible to stop bad tenants behaving badly. All fixed.
So you know its just a typo? uhuh. I realise most of you right wing trolls are humourless….why I put…. satirical !
Maybe you should address why Ol' Double Dipper English has any involvement or credo when he was quite involved in the selling off of same.
Oh yeah, Ol' Bill again back in the day…
Oh yea..the real manufacturing…mostly a dodgy means to empty NZ State Housing.
Thanks to Drowsy, I now see it could have meant "having access to warm, dry housing for a decent period" (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-05-2024/#comment-2000792), in which case it's great!
But have you thought about the irony in your criticism of Bill English, given the last government left "one of the highest rates of homelessness in the developed world"?
Given that plenty of us criticised the last government for being confusing and moving too slow (while still giving them credit for the good job they did in building some more housing and actually allowing people to get on the waitlist to better see the size of the unmet need problem) I don't see any irony at all.
Bill English was instrumental in kicking people off the housing waiting lists and National are making it harder to get on already.
They did the same thing last time with health as well.
You really don’t need to make it harder for us, Minister, with your new verification processes and eligibility checks. It’s not easy to get into emergency housing. Take my case: despite the fact that a social worker at my local MSD office agreed that the danger in my home was too high for me to remain, and paid for my kids and I to move, when it came to emergency housing, a different employee from MSD’s national team decided I did not meet the criteria. I spent three nights in a hospital where medics didn’t want to discharge me because there was nowhere for me to go, and then another night failing to sleep on a hard chair in the emergency department because the hospital was full and that was the best they could provide.
Laying more obligations on people seeking emergency housing and forcing our MSD managers to check on us more frequently won’t help the problem. If there’s one bright light in the system at the moment, it’s the pastoral care offered by the MSD integrated housing managers. I’ve had two, and both have made it clear that they really, really care. They’re already doing a lot; checking on my application with Kainga Ora and fielding calls from support agencies. At a time when the public sector is facing huge cuts, why double their workload by forcing them to check on me every four days?
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/22-04-2024/theres-no-need-to-make-emergency-housing-harder-its-hard-enough-already
Thanks DoS, I appreciate the reply and in your case I withdraw the comment about the irony. And I read Spinoff piece you linked to. Parking our political differences, it's unacceptable we have people living in transitional housing, and the "I was made to sing the “If you’re happy and you know it” song and heard the suggestion that homelessness is the result of financial irresponsibility and that a budgeting course would make us irresistible to the private sector." is downright disgusting.
Just in: Stupid tax for coalition voters set at modest 100 million.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/24/government-looks-to-scrap-tax-incentive-for-utes/
Sounds like National dumping on its own support base, if I read this correctly.
FBT is a hangover from Rogernomics, it has more loopholes than an Instant Finance contract and costs a lot to administer compared to the amount of tax taken. Should have been retired long ago.
It affects me because the government takes a cut of the employer kiwisaver contribution.
Greedy b….s
Add that to the nat supporting tesla owners etc who got simeon'd ….bet they never saw that coming.
They're in power now so unless you have a dead rat they swallowed be prepared for more.
I am interested in thoughts from those interested in philosophical debate.
One of the contentious topics in philosophy for a long time is whether we have free will, or whether our decisions are completely determined by external causal factors and internal causal factors. For instance, genetic factors etc we have inherited.
The deterministic argument essentially is that the sum of causal factors means our decisions are completely explained by those causal factors. Under that scenario, if we were able to travel back in time to before a decision is made, our decision would be exactly the same, based on those causal factors.
My argument is that there is room for independent human agency, apart from prior causes, depending on the ambiguity of the situation.
For example, a parent may have the option to either prevent their toddler from running out onto a busy road, or to stand back to see what will happen. In that situation, it is highly likely the parent would make the decision to prevent the child from crossing the road if faced with exactly the same circumstances again. The the deterministic argument would hold true in that situation.
But, where information is ambiguous, it is not so clear cut.
For example, say a person was driving down a road in Germany in the mid-1930s. The are contronted with an intersection where they must choose to go one way or the other. They both lead to the same destination, and there is no information as to which way is the best way to go. So, it is up to the person to decide which direction to take. In that situation, all the causal factors are the same. But, due to the lack of information, the causal factors have no influence on the decision to take. So, confronted with the same situation again, there is no reason to think that the same decision would be made.
They decide to go in one direction. In that direction, they have an accident and kill Hitler. Going the other way, they avoid the action altogether.
In this situation, it seems that the agency of the individual has started a causal chain of events depending on the decision made. That causal chain is independent of the preceding causal chain.
So, my argument is, the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely free will is involved. Where decisions are clear cut, then deterministic causal factors are more likely to explain the actions.
Incidental or scenario choice is one aspect – it is at the micro level of the decision-making.
Where people would make the same decision – again and again and others would decide the same, is not an important part of the free will debate because it is where instinctive behaviour conforms to deterministic causal factors decision-making.
I would look at free will in the context of cognitive psychology as per individual choice which does not conform to the expectation of evolutionary psychology as per group (herd) behaviour. Where individuals choose to be different is an act of free will. Such actions can influence the course of human society.
I tend to agree with you. The problem is that determinists would argue that individuals who choose to be different have causal factors that would explain that. For, instance, they may point to genetic factors where the individual's parents had similar tendencies. Or their parents brought them up to stand up for their own beliefs despite what the crowd may think.
My argument attempted to point out that the more ambiguous a situation becomes, the less effect previous causal factors will have.
At one end of the scale, decisions can be explained completely by causes. For instance, it has been shown that people react to pressing their brakes to avoid a crash before the thought arises in their mind.
But, in completely ambiguous situations, then the independent decision of the individual becomes much more of a factor.
So, I am proposing a continuum where at one end causal factors are a complete explanation, but at the other end independent individual agency is the complete explanation, and that the mix will change depending on the point along the continuum.
We learn to have instinctive reactions to situations (repetition – such as breaking without thinking) but also learn from considered experience, such as no right turn (or one term only).
I would see the upbringing of offspring to become educated and free thinking as a deliberation to impact on the wider society a capacity for progressive change (as nurture to ensure evolutionary possibility for the group over time).
I think it does end up coming down to whether we could have done otherwise. Or else there is always an argument that whatever we do was determined by a countless number of causes, many of which we may not be aware of.
The problem is that it is an experiment that is impossible to do because it would require travelling back in time to the exact situation that was faced back then. That is why the debate will always be at the academic level.
My thought experiment tried to show that it would be possible to do something different, given enough ambiguity in the situation.
Free will ignores the impact of genetics in terms of natural skill and ability, the impact on others and their decisions on your circumstances and luck.
None of us are where we are or where we could be by our choices alone. Being born into the right or wrong family or country, whether the wrong person got annoyed with you or the right person mentored you, whether we had an accident or a near miss, whether you were exposed to violence or poverty as a child – the cult of individualism as a means of success is just so non-sensical – it isn't funny that this gets promoted.
The caste system and the idea of next generation rebirth to a higher status reflects the reality that in some ways full exercise of (or equal) free will has an inter-generational aspect (is constrained by generational disadvantage).
That said providing opportunity (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and having estate taxation (and CGT on wealth privilege) are or can be the ways in which democracy works to allow greater opportunity for exercise of free will (equality) within "society".
Even then though you can't escape genetics – I've rarely heard anyone suggesting someone born with Down's syndrome just has to change their attitude to become successful – society is at times quite accepting of highly visible disability (post institutionalisation more so) having limits on level of achievement – often to their, the person's, detriment.
There's far worse genetic and illness derived heath disorders. And there are plenty that are invisible and not obvious – think dyslexia. So where on the spectrum of variation amongst human beings does it become that magic point of "but you just need to get your shit together, work harder, make more effort". to be successful. What if in fact for a lot of people it just simply cannot ever happen and it isn't them that need to adapt but instead it is society and the rules, and structures we have built that are problematic for them that are the things that need to change.
https://listverse.com/2019/12/03/10-of-the-most-successful-people-with-down-syndrome/
That includes adverse consequences on the child in the womb of adverse factors (non genetic – such as fetal alcohol etc) and early life trauma experiences (physical and mental), early poverty diseases, accident disability, sexual violence .. mental illness.
It is however important to distinguish between the concept of free will and the concept of a Randian/libertarian individual centred order to society – given equality of opportunity does not exist, It is of our free will to design a better one.
Propose it as a post.
IMO, the whole debate is a bottomless swamp that's best avoided altogether and often a jumping-off point for dodgy political agendas.
I think there's something of a false binary at play. Pre-determination is usually viewed as material in nature and based on prior decisions by other people, our backgrounds and accumulated experience; while free will is seen as a non-material and essential characteristic of all human minds. The false binary is that these two are seen as completely different categories of things, and that therefore one must always be in the ascendant over the other. I would prefer to say that they are both material in nature and that we are all an admixture of both – that bad experience and bad backgrounds can partially extinguish the capacity for free will, while good experiences will enhance it. Both always exist together in tension.
In practice we all believe something like this. As a good leftie, few things infuriate me more than the right's fondness for the "just-world fallacy" – the idea that we all have free will and therefore the rich deserve to be rich and the poor deserve to be poor – which is nothing but a self-serving lie. On the other hand, if I did not believe in the presence of free will I would not be in favour of (say) rehabilitation programmes for criminals that rely on them wanting to change. Nobody in their day to day life is a fundamentalist of either stripe – we might call that "sanity".
Kiwi Anthony Cashmore has some interesting ideas about free will, and published on the topic in PNAS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Cashmore#Human_behavior,_free_will_and_consciousness
Cashmore's paper elicited some debate at the time, and is still being cited:
If the question is how much control an individual has over their thoughts and actions, then it's likely most people will tend to believe they are fully in control most if not all of the time, but who knows whether this is the case – certainly not me!
My simplistic assumption is that what we consider free will is largely the outcome of stochastic processes in the brain over which we have little-to-no control, these process (in response to stimuli) dictating thoughts and actions that are largely predictable (the degree of predictability varying over time, and between individuals), but not absolutely so.
For example, travelling at speed and faced with a possum in the headlights, an individual might react in the same way (say) 99 times out of a hundred, but possibly not 999 times out of a thousand. Another individual might react the same way 100 times out of 100, but possibly not one thousand time out of one thousand. A third individual might react in differently each time – difficult to imagine, but not impossible, although such an individual probably wouldn't last too long behind the wheel. It is challenging to conduct such thought experiments in practice, for all but the simplest living systems 'learn', and in humans it might be considered impossible to do a genuine reset after each cycle, and unethical even if it was possible.
Hmm, in hindsight, AB said it best – it’s a rabbit hole. Thanks for the question – that's the next hour's reading sorted
The question could be reframed as "Is the universe deterministic?" and quantum physics say probably not.
ChatGPT sez:
Or not yet … as it has yet to conclude – in flux and all that.
Every time someone comments I am in a quantum state of both agreeing and disagreeing and as a result the universe splits in two. According to the multiple worlds hypothesis,
Free will in this case couldn't be distinguished from randomness?
"the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely free will is involved."
i.e. "the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely
free willRandomness is involved." ?The existence of free will isn't clear, but the existence of randomness certainly is!
The case for restoration of reading recovery in 2026 if not earlier is made.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/05/children-using-updated-reading-recovery-make-double-normal-progress-research.html
Thanks, that's an interesting piece.
It's good to see the support for structure literacy – IMHO that is our best chance to improve literacy in NZ after decades of decline.
Picking up on the final comments from Gail Gillon, I suspect the initial emphasis will be on changing the dynamic of literacy learning (to SL). Resources will be directly specifically to that. Reading recovery will become part of the overall picture, but in a form that integrates into the SL methodology. There will always be children for whom literacy is a challenge even with the very best practice.
And teaching reading using structured literacy, initially, in the classroom – will mean that fewer kids will need to be referred to programmes like Reading Recovery, at all.
At a time when climate change effects are all accelerating, we have predictions now for the collapse of the Thwaites glacier in Antartica in the next decade or two rather than next century.
Thwaites, which already contributes 4% to global sea level rise, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet. But because it also acts as a natural dam to the surrounding ice in West Antarctica, scientists have estimated its complete collapse could ultimately lead to around 10 feet of sea level rise — a catastrophe for the world’s coastal communities.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/05/collapse-of-the-thwaites-glacier-has-accelerated.html
It is pertinent to look at what is happening to the global effort to bring climate change into the urgent agenda now required and look at what is behind the current efforts to demonise climate change protestors.
It turns out that most of what has been happening with criminalising protest is driven by the Atlas Network.
It began in the UK but now has it's tentacles right through the world, as we now know in NZ. It is the propaganda and influencer at arms length from the fossil fuel and mega rich corporations which fund it and as we know here, has bought and paid for national traitors, prepared to sell their citizens down the drain in exchange for power and money.
https://newrepublic.com/article/175488/meet-shadowy-global-network-vilifying-climate-protesters
Well done Willie Jackson on jointly winning the Oxford Union debate. Sounds like a well constructed speech, clever, and with a touch of humour. Wonder how much we will hear about it in the news.
Well done Willie indeed.
Willie Jackson's success has been covered by the media. A great achievement.
Apparently it was a job interview.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/could-willie-jackson-be-the-populist-leader-labour-needs-bryce-edwards-political-roundup/7MAMBG4AC5GZ7HWIX3NTCUEYF4/
Not such a far-fetched idea, that. As I've already remarked, Hipkins just isn't right in the role of LOTO. Labour needs an Antony, not yet another Brutus.
How about we skip Antony, and go directly to Octavian.
Both Hipkins and Jackson have far too much political baggage.
Yes, good coverage on last night's One News. But oh dearie me, did he really have to recycle that tired old "smell on your breath" trope? Time that was permanently put to rest.
"Devastating"? Our CoC MPs are simply putting 'self' before 'service'.
Those simple-minded meddling experts – there’s still meat on public asset bones
… reducing barriers (funding) to community housing providers (some Maori), iwi (all Maori) and Maori (let's guess urban authority).
(to Maori is OK when away fro government delivery).
Then
1.cancelling the role of Kainga Ora in buying places or leasing on the market to let out at income related rent.
2.not funding new Kainga Ora developments and with natural decline from demolishing old housing and then selling land not then being built on by tender to "developers in a flat market".
make it look like a great improvement in KO performance.
Problem less housing, less land for affordable new housing by future governments and a decline in assets held by KO.
The new social housing elsewhere not making up for the decline at KO (including loss of land assets).
It's just a transfer from KO and with no total increase in social housing intended.
Once again the $!40M allocated is under $100,000 for each "home".
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350282580/nz-politics-live-housing-minister-chris-bishop-outlines-how-1500-new-social
The Tories promised to get rid of no fault evictions in 2019 and finally brought legislation into parliament in 2023, but it will not pass before the election.
Here the coalition has brought in no fault evictions. Indicating a more pro landlord regime than the Tories of the UK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd11ej9n5edo
A year longer in Belmarsh.
https://open.substack.com/pub/chrishedges/p/the-slow-motion-execution-of-julian-986?r=1s0xfs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
"RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says the Government is committed to
unlocking development and investment while ensuring the environment is protected."
[Excerpt from media release by Minister Responsible for RMA Reform and two other ministers, 24 May 2024]
So we can have our cake and eat it too? I don't buy that. At most, the government will only make it look as if the environment is being protected.
Mining on stewardship land is just the start. The government is trotting out the usual "jobs or the environment" argument.
Note too the use of the word "unlocking". It implies those nasty greenies have prevented bold entrepreneurs in the business sector from making this country great.
A teenager is stabbed to death in Dunedin 30 metres from a police station.
The police say they have known about trouble in the area for some time but their options to fix it were security men and CTV cameras.
They couldn't even manage a police officer to walk the beat in the area for about an hour 3-4 pm on school days even though he/she would within spitting distance of the station.
Doesn't say much about National's promise to crack down on crime does it?